


quattuor

by JkWriter



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, Superheroes, abilities, no powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-26 01:49:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13225638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JkWriter/pseuds/JkWriter
Summary: Michael wasn't special. He didn't have any abilities. He couldn't fly, or heal, and he certainly couldn't protect himself. At least, that's what it seems like. Maybe if the Four would stop hanging around him so much the bad guys of the week would using Michael as bait.





	quattuor

In a world of superheroes and villains Michael went through life completely normal. If being one of seven people without any sort of an ability in a town of six thousands could be considered normal. He was technically the outlier in this situation, something certain people were sure to remind him of at school on a daily basis, just in case he forgot. It wasn't all that bad. Sure, he could do without the bullying, but for every tormentor he also had a terrifyingly overprotective friend. Granted they weren't always the best. They seemed to think they had Michael's best interests at mind and somehow lying to him wasn't crossing a line in their books.

You see, Michael's friends had pretty strong abilities. He had grown up with them, watched them flourish, and probably knew more about their abilities than they did. Therefore when a group of four "superheroes" started protecting their town with abilities nearly identical to his friends he was able to put two and two together rather quickly. They, of course, didn't know that Michael knew they paraded around town in ridiculous costumes at night. In an effort to "protect" Michael they didn't say anything. Had Michael been anyone else he might have believed them when they insisted they knew nothing about the town's new protectors. But Michael wasn't anyone, he was Michael Petyushkin. His father was renowned Russian superhero Viktor Petyushkin.

Essentially Michael wasn't an idiot.

He never spoke out. They seemed to think he was safer not knowing who they were and on some levels he agreed. If word got around Michael had any idea who the Roxboro Four were than people would be picking him up trying to find out and honestly Michael didn't have time for that. A lack of ability meant getting into his first choice university was going to be annoyingly difficult. He needed to study, getting kidnapped and tortured for information would just ruin the schedule he had created back in freshman year.

Yet somehow self-proclaimed super villains started picking up on the fact that whenever there was danger near Michael one of the four would miraculously be there. ("I was just in the general vicinity" wasn't as good of an excuse as they liked to imagine.)

Michael groaned. He noticed two things right away, he was in a lot of pain and his arms were tied down against the chair. That wasn't good. He opened his eyes and was met with the sight of a woman with bright purple hair in a ridiculous skin-tight green costume. Everything about her was clashing and it was hurting his eyes. He groaned, less from the pain from being tied up but more from the inconvenience this was going to cause. She didn't know that. She seemed rather pleased with herself.

"Hello, deary."

"Nope. No. Goodbye." Michael closed his eyes and willed himself to fall back asleep. It didn't work.

"Now now, the party's just begun. We can't have you crashing on us now."

Someone stepped from the shadows in the most cliche way Michael had ever seen. When he woke up this morning he hadn't planned on getting kidnapped by a super villain wannabe and her apparent partner but sometimes things don't go the way you plan.

"Yeah, I don't remember sending the RSVP for this party. No offense, but I don't even want to be here. I've got the SAT in a few weeks and honestly, this is kind of ruining my study schedule."

That wasn't the right thing to say. A fist connected with his jaw and fuck, that hurt. Michael frowned but refrained from saying anything else. Partly because it hurt to move his mouth and partly because he didn't actually have a death wish.

"Word on the street is you have a connection to the Roxboro Four." Yup, there it is. Michael knew this was coming. "My partner and I've been meaning to run into them, but they seem too busy saving you from petty criminals. Honestly, I am insulted by it. It got me thinking, what is so special about you that they're always there? Then it hit me, you must have a connection to them. So we're going to ask you some questions, answer them truthfully and we might let you go."

Michael had seen enough movies to know they weren't going to let him go. He also knew that without an actual secret ability he wasn't going to be doing anything except sitting here until one of the four showed up. He hoped Kaila would. She could heal injuries and his lip was split. Bleeding into his mouth wasn't exactly a comfortable situation.

The man from the shadows stepped in front of him. Michael could see his face better. He had seen him around town recently and paid no attention. New people were always crossing through, not everyone was going to be noteworthy. Apparently this man should have been as now he was opening a bag on a table next to them that Michael had previously not seen. And yup, those we're pliers. He wasn't going to be questioned, he was going to be tortured. Michael was really starting to wish he hadn't disabled the tracker in his phone. He wasn't sure how long he was out but it had to have been long enough that his friends had noticed. They were probably canvassing the city at this very moment looking for him and as long as he was still in the city they would find him.

"We start simple." The man had an accent. It sounded Russian but Michael wasn't sure. He doubted mentioning his dad would help him in the situation and he never actually bothered learning more than the basics. "Tell us what we want and you will keep your fingernail. Tell us something else and off it goes."

"That doesn't sound very fair. How am I supposed to know what kind of answer you want?"

Was losing his first fingernail for that sarcasm worth it? Probably not, but Michael had an excuse to scream. Keith had freakishly good hearing so Michael was taking any noise making he could.

"Do you know the Roxboro Four?"

Great, the woman was taking again. Not that Michael had a problem with the fact that she was a woman and talking. Michael had no problems with that, he wasn't sexist. His problem came with the fact that her voice was croaky and made him want to scratch his eyes out. He had a feeling it had to do with her ability.

"Do I know of them? Yes. I don't actually know who they are."

That wasn't the best answer but it was enough to keep his index fingernail.

"They seem to be your own personal bodyguards."

"Yeah, I don't get it either. They showed up last summer and since then I haven't been able to ditch them. Maybe I know them? If I do they don't let me know they're running around Roxboro at night wearing spandex."

Mr. Maybe-Russian-Guy was going to take the pliers to his nail when the woman raised a hand to stop him. She motioned for him to move, which he did with little complaining. She took his place standing in front of Michael. Michael was extremely uncomfortable with her staring down at him, but he could only look away.

"Michael."

Mistake number one. He looked up into her eyes. Something inside him told him to and now he couldn't look away.

"That's your name, right? Michael Petyushkin?"

It sounded like the pliers were dropped to the floor. He wanted to look, but couldn't bring his eyes from the woman's.

Ah fuck. Compulsion.

"Petyushkin?"

The woman ignored her partners confused, and slightly scared voice.

"Michael, dear. I am not going to hurt you. We're friends, right?"

No.

"Yes."

Fuck.

"Why aren't you being truthful with me? Friends are supposed to tell each other the truth, right?"

Yes, but we're not friends. You're a psycho bitch.

"My friends lie to me all the time. So, I wouldn't know. I like to imagine yes, but I couldn't tell you for certain."

"What do they lie to you about?

"They think I need to be protected. I don't have an ability and they worry. They follow me around, but say they don't."

Nice save. Spilling half the truth should work.

"I don't think that's all they lie to you about. Now come on Michael, just one little secret won't hurt anyone. What do they lie about? What are their names?"

The lights flickered. She was too focused on the moment. Michael was too, at least until he saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. It was enough to pull him from his trance, not that she let him know that. Michael grew up powerless, but he was one hell of a liar.

"I can't tell you. I would be betraying their trust."

She seemed frustrated by the lack of response. Frustrated like she was about to let the now non-existent Russian take over. That worried Michael. If the four were going to save him, which he very much hoped they will, then she couldn't be putting her guard back up, not yet.

"They've betrayed yours. They lie to you. They do things without you. They let you worry all night for no reason other than the fact that they don't trust you."

Wow, she had a compelling argument even when Michael wasn't caught in her trap. Sadly for her Michael was extremely loyal.

"Their names on Lightning, Yri, Sonar, and Hiems."

Michael grinned. He was proud of that, leading her along. It was her fault for not noticing the spell had been broken.

"You little bitch."

She backhanded him. Which hurt, a lot. Kaila was nearby. He could feel the warmth she emitted. She could make the pain go away after making this woman leave.

"That was a bit rude. Don't you agree?"

It seemed the woman finally noticed they were no longer alone. She slashed the bonds holding Michael to the chair and yanked him up by his hair. He yelped, something he would deny ever doing, and let himself be dragged towards the edge of the room. Lightning flashed outside illuminating four sets of pissed off eyes. Michael made a mental note to never get on their bad side.

"Heard you were looking for us."

Kennedy stepped forward. She was in her typical suit. Extremely tight spandex-like material with lightning bolts sewn into the material. Michael wasn't exactly sure what the purpose of the lighting bolts was. It suited her, though.

"Ah, Roxboro Four, so glad you could join us."

Four pairs of eyes flicked to where the woman was holding onto Michael's hair. Now that they were standing Michael felt smaller than before. She was a good four or five inches taller than him. It wasn't exactly the best feeling for his self esteem. He already knew he was shorter than most people in his school, and now he was shorter than the bad guy of the week.

"Taking a hostage? That rather pathetic, don't you think?"

"Mikey and I were just talking, weren't we?"

"Ew. Gross. Don't call me Mikey. Not even my boyfriend gets to call me Mikey."

It probably wasn't the smartest idea to egg on a villain when he was literally in their hands, but she made it so easy.

"Shut up."

She yanked his hair back. He yelped again despite trying his hardest not to. The room temperature dropped and yup, that was definitely Evan. Michael would have smiled at him if he wasn't being pulled back towards the window.

"I advise you let him go if you want to make it out of here alive."

Evan sounded murderous. Absolutely murderous. It was kind of hot in Michael's opinion. He was learning something new about himself everyday.

"With pleasure."

"Wait, that doesn't sound good, I'm actually fine right here, you really shouldn't feel the need to pu-FUCK."

Michael was falling.

Michael was falling because he was just pushed out the window.

It shattered when he was thrown towards it (she was surprisingly strong) and now he was plummeting towards the ground.

This is it. Michael is going to die. He had wrote a note to his friends about how they were all idiots and he knew it was them. Maybe they'd find it. He hoped they would find it.

And suddenly he wasn't falling. He was in someone's arms. Oh shit. This was his dad. That woman was going to die. He'd pray for her. He'd pray for his friends, because they were also going to die. Everyone was going to die. Except for Michael because his dad was passing him to his mom.

"Heya mam, how's it going?"

Michael was constantly forgetting just how strong his parents were. His mom slid down the side of the building still holding onto him.  
"Oh Micha, are you alright? There's glass in your arm. Is Kai inside? She could stop the bleeding until you can get to the hospital."

"Yeah, they're all in there playing heroes again. Seemed pretty pissed about the fact I was being held hostage. Don't tell them I said this, but it was kind of fun."

His mom frowned. She, like Michael and his father, knew his friends were trying out the whole hero thing. She didn't approve but didn't stop them. She also didn't let on she knew who they were. His family had agreed it would be better to let them come forward themselves.

"Are you alright?"

Ah, there Kaila was. She seemed rather concerned. Probably because Michael had been held kidnapped, held hostage, and then throw out a window.

"Never been better. Feeling great. I kind of want to go dancing. Is there anywhere you can take ballroom dance classes nearby? That sounds fun."

"Micha! Now is not the time to be joking."

"I can uh, I can heal him? Sort of. The glass shards will need to be pulled out but I can stop the bleeding around them."

Oh, glass shards. The blood covering his arms suddenly made a lot more sense. And made him nauseous. There was glass in his body. That didn't sit right with him.

"Will it hurt? Because I'm on a strict no pain diet right now."

Michael knew what the answer was going to be, but there was no harm in asking and hoping Kaila had better control of her ability now.

"I can't promise it won't hurt. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, sorry. No can do. As much as I'd love the be healed, pain just doesn't work out for me. Mam, what are you- Oh, okay yeah this works."

Michael's eyes started to slip closed as his mom's ability started to do it's thing. She specialized in neutralizing threats in the most humane way, knocking them out with some weird gas he's still not sure about. It worked to get him to fall asleep when he was younger so it's nothing new.

He could feel pain as Kaila set out healing the worst of the cuts without accidentally sealing the glass in his body. He was pretty sure he screamed at one point but he was too out of it to actually notice. His mom was whispering to him, his dad was in the background yelling at Keith, Kennedy, and Evan who were likely still in the warehouse (something Michael wasn't over, like seriously. He wasn't just kidnapped and tortured for information, he was kidnapped, taken to an abandoned warehouse, and then tortured for information, how cheesy would his life get?).

The pain subsided and the not-quite-sleep his mom had placed him in began to fade. He opened up his eyes to be greeted by his mom and dad's worried faces.

"They gone?"

"Da. Idiots nearly got you killed."

"Victor, dear, he's okay."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Really. Just got some glass that needs removing and some friends that need guilt tripping, but I'm alright."

His dad didn't seem convinced but he reluctantly dropped the subject.

"I'll run him to the hospital and then come back for you."

"Vic, I can get there myself. Focus on Micha right now."

"I'm right here you know."

"Are you sure?"

"Or maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm a figment of your imaginations. Or maybe you're a figment of mine. Has Aunt Mailey visited recently?"

Michael's mom pressed a hand against his mouth effectively shutting him up. That answered the whole figment of imagination thing.

"Yes. Now take my baby to the hospital or you will regret every waking up this morning."

For being a world renowned superhero, Michael's dad sure was scared of his wife. He picked Michael up, cradling him to his chest like he was a child. In their eyes he probably was. A fragile child who would break if they looked at him the wrong way.

Michael's dad's ability was a bit much. He was fast. Really fast. Like, comic book superhero fast. It was a rare ability, one of the reasons why he become so well known throughout the world. Most people got nauseous being carried along for the ride, but not Michael. Something about being related meant the aftermath was dulled compared to a civilian. That and the fact that he spent most of his childhood begging for rides.

"What are you guys doing out anyways?"

"Evan called us. Said you left but hadn't checked in with him yet. He sounded worried so your mother and I decided to find you."

"Ah, thanks for that. Falling to my death isn't exactly on my bucket list."

His dad cracked a smile. That was the difference between his parents. His mom freaked out about his jokes but his dad understood it was how he coped.

\---

Two days later Michael found himself standing in front of his locker struggling to open it with the brace the doctors insisted he wear. While Kai had healed around the glass and sealed his split lip she missed the fractured bone. His dad wasn't too happy about that, but Michael insisted it wasn't a big deal and that he could use this in his favor. He managed to get the first two days of the week off from school but was pushed out the door by his mom that Wednesday. Which is how he found himself fighting with the lock.

"Michael!"

Well. Here it goes.

"Dude, are you okay? Your mom called me after what happened the other night. She wouldn't let me come visit, said I'd have to wait until you came back to school."

Michael turned to face his group of friends. Evan, to no one's surprise, was leading them. He looked the most worried out of the bunch.

"Oh, yeah. Super fine. Being kidnapped and slightly tortured for information I don't have is how I enjoy spending my Sunday nights."

"Tortured?"

Kennedy sounded shocked. Michael thought back to Sunday. They were probably too caught up in whoever that woman was they didn't notice her accomplice.

"Yup. Look!" He held up his hand the best he could with the brace so they could see the bandage wrapped around his finger. "I can now say I've been tortured by a wannabe bad guy, how cool is that?"

Evan frowned. Michael felt slightly bad but not enough to accept the silent invitation of a hug just yet.

Kaila stepped forward, her hands already glowing with that white hue he associated with her healing.

"Do you want me to?"

Michael wanted nothing more than to have Kaila heal it because honestly, it hurt. A lot. It hurt more than the time he had broken his arm jumping off his roof onto the trampoline. Which, in his defense, seemed like a good idea at the time.

"Nah. I'm hoping next time I see the four I can show this to them and tell them to leave me the hell alone. If they'd stop trailing me all the time then this wouldn't happen."

"What uh, what do you mean?"

This time it was Keith who spoke up.

"Isn't it obvious? People think I'm friends with them or something since they're always saving me. I've officially been marked as hostage number one. This is my new life." Michael's heart broke a little at the look Evan was giving him. He tried holding out, he really did, but he was never able to resist the puppy eyes. "Ev, stop looking at me like that." Evan looked like he was about to cry. Fuck. "Dammit."

Michael stepped forward letting Evan throw his arms around him. He appreciated the comfort, even though he didn't really need it. He was actually fine with the whole getting kidnapped situation. But it seemed like the rest of them weren't. They all seemed pretty shaken up by it.

"God, I was so scared. You didn't text me like you were supposed to when you got home."

That was probably around the point that Evan worriedly called his parents which led to the whole semi-disaster that was Sunday night.

"Hey, Ev, I'm fine. Really. Just some battle scars. Which is pretty cool considering I'll never actually get to fight anything."

Evan sniffled like he was about to start crying. In Michael's eyes that was the worst case scenario because then he would start crying and it would be a whole ordeal. The whole school would find out, he might end up with a few more bruises from getting beat up (seriously, there were dicks in his school that got off on beating up the defenseless kid with no ability), and then they'd go out as the four again to teach some lessons leading to Michael being caught and everything repeating itself.

"Let me walk you home next time, okay?"

"If it will make you feel better, then next time you can walk me home. Okay?"

Evan nodded and pulled away. Michael only missed the contact a little bit. Not that he was going to tell Evan that.

"So, any idea who picked you up last night?"

Michael frowned at the question. He knew Kennedy liked to gather information, but she sounded sincere, like she didn't know who the woman was. Which kind of sucked, because Michael was really hoping they had found out.

"No idea. Haven't seen her around before. She's either trying to kill the four, persuade them to join her, or she's just passing through. I don't really remember much after my parents showed up. Thanks for that by the way." Michael aimed a look in Evan's direction who gave a small smile in return. "I think I'm grounded. Bit unfair. Why should I be grounded for getting thrown out a window?"

They didn't react to that. Almost like they had been there when he was tossed from the window. Strange.

"Damn dude. Sounds rough. Think she's going to make a reappearance?"

Ah, so that's what they were doing. Trying to find out what she told him. Which wasn't much asides from what he already knew.

"Don't know. She might. Her ability has to do with manipulation. She put me in this weird trance where all I wanted to do was answer her questions."

Evan seemed to be the only one concerned by that information. Granted they were dating it made sense he'd be more perceptive to the dangers of life he still wished the others would notice.

It looked like Kennedy was going to say something else when Evan cut her off. He wrapped an arm around Michael's shoulders and started leading them away from the group.

"We're going on to second, see you guys at lunch."

For a minute it seemed like they were going to second. Until Evan led them down the three hundred hall. Their class was in the four hundred wing.

Michael was tempted to ask what he was doing but couldn't be bothered. He trusted Evan. Knew that Evan wouldn't intentionally put him in danger (though he seemed to have no qualms unintentionally putting him in danger).

Evan pushed open the door to the bathroom and pulled Michael in. The warning bell rang and the few people who were trying to avoid the trainwreck that was the halls left leaving the two of them alone. Which, on one hand, could be pretty hot. Two dudes alone in the bathroom, who knew what they would get up to? On the other...

"Alright Michael, spill."

**Author's Note:**

> moving this here from wattpad because I hate wattpad k bye


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